


Time to Start Over

by spitshineboi



Category: Antiope/Menalippe - Fandom, Wonder Woman (2017), Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, I think i'm starting to understand tags, Past Rape/Non-con, Pre-Canon, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-03 23:11:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14006916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spitshineboi/pseuds/spitshineboi
Summary: Her head broke the surface of the water. Later she'll learn that she came up from the mud underneath the Thermodon River, but now all she knows is the sound her head makes as it splits the surface. She feels the water pouring off her body. She feels the sun, Apollo and his mighty chariot, dry her. She feels Aeolus, the keeper of all winds, help Him in this endeavor as the winds blew from all directions. Antiope splashed ashore. She feels new. New but with many memories. Horrible, horrible memories.





	Time to Start Over

Her head broke the surface of the water. Later she'll learn that she came up from the mud underneath the Thermodon River, but now all she knows is the sound her head makes as it splits the surface. She feels the water pouring off her body. She feels the sun, Apollo and his mighty chariot, dry her. She feels Aeolus, the keeper of all winds, help Him in this endeavor as the winds blew from all directions. Antiope splashed ashore. She feels new. New but with many memories. Horrible, horrible memories.

She died in Colchis. As the conquerors, the rapists, the murderers, stabbed her in the chest with their spears she cried out-loud to Ares, great God of War, for divine retribution. She cried to Athena, gray-eyed Goddess of Wisdom and War, for strength and knowledge in how to destroy these monsters. She cried to Hera, the All-Mother, as she watched these demons destroy her son, Hippolytus, with their spears. She had named her son after her murdered sister Hippolyta; named for a woman dead fifteen years before. They had never found her body to bury, but only prayed for her soul. Her son, Hippolytus, was only ten. The light faded and then there was nothing until she awoke on the shore of the Acheron watching Charon shake his head no for she had no obolus. She could not pay. She hadn't been buried.

She never found Hippolytus' spirit there waiting at the Acheron so, she hoped, he had been buried and had the toll.

She waiting for a hundred years for someone, anyone, to take pity on her soul and bury her bones with an obolus to pay Charon. No one ever did. She simply started to fade away as her bones turned to dust and she finally disappeared from the shores of the Acheron; nothing left, not even memories.

She woke up here.

Her life experiences starting anew. 

Once dry she looked around her. There was nothing. Nothing at all, except grassland. So, she sat on the shore and waited, wondering how long she would wait on this shore before she disappeared once again. Finally, she spotted a figure in the far distance, coming from the east. She had been awake for so long and couldn't stay awake any longer. She fell asleep. She only woke when someone shook her shoulder. She raised her head and looked up… into the eyes of her long-dead sister, Hippolyta. 

^^^^^

Antiope's mouth gaped open as she stared into her sister's clear blue-eyes.

"Hippol… Hippolyta?" she stammered.

Hippolyta smiled. "Yes, that is who I am. I'm not sure I know who you are, but you look an awful lot like my mother."

Antiope laughed loud and long. "I'm Antiope, Hippolyta. Your sister Antiope."

Hippolyta's face broke into the largest smile Antiope had ever seen. "Antiope, is it really you?" she said in her wonderful, low voice. She was crying and laughing at the same time, "The last time I saw you, you were twelve."

Antiope, also smiling and crying, jumped up and hugged her sister Hippolyta close. "My sister, my true, true sister. I've missed you so much!"

They stood holding each other tightly. Hippolyta dressed in a simple white chiton with a steel girdle decorated with gold, and sandals. Antiope nothing. Finally, Antiope drew apart from her sister. "Is this Elysium? Are these the Fields of Asphodel? It certainly is not Tartarus, is it?" she questioned.

Hippolyta laughed with her wonderful, melodic voice and said, "No Antiope. Come let's make a fire and I will tell you everything."

So, they made a fire in a clearing near the river. Hippolyta held her the same way she had when Antiope was very young, closely, nearly in her lap, with her arms around her. She was comforting. She was loving. She kept Antiope warm while the chill rose up around them. Hippolyta told her that she had been blessed with a new life because she died with the Goddesses names on her lips. "Ares too" Antiope whispered and Hippolyta nodded her head. "Yes, Ares too. We are the children of Ares, just as we are the children of the Goddesses we each prayed too."

She told Antiope that they had a mission here on earth. They were advocates of peace. They would go from city to city convincing all to love one another. To make peace. She had been doing that for years now. Sometimes the city states did make peace; mostly they did not. In her nightly prayer's she begged the Goddesses to give her strength, to send her help. Yesterday morning Hippolyta awoke knowing that she must come here, to this place on the river. So, Hippolyta started walking and made it here this evening; Antiope was here, the answer to her dreams, hopes, and prayers.

When Hippolyta finished her story, it was very late and they were very tired. They curled up together by the fire, spooning. Antiope was the inner, Hippolyta the outer, curling up around Antiope and keeping her warm as she held her tight.

The next morning, they found many things around the fire for both of them. Antiope now had a chiton, undergarments, pins to hold the chiton together, sandals, and a girdle of steel with much silverwork on it. There were Chlamydes, long woolen cloaks normally worn by hunters or soldiers. Each had a fine but simple brooch in it so they could fasten them about their shoulders. There was a petasos, a floppy brimmed sun hat, for each of them. There were two knives and sheaths, two bows, and two quivers, each with ten arrows in It, two fine fire steels, two wooden drinking cups, two simple pouches, and, finally, there was breakfast: figs, bread soaked in wine, nuts, and olives. They had been blessed and it was heavenly.

They both yelled with happiness when the gifts were spotted. The Gods were so good! They quickly ran to the food and devoured it. 

Antiope, after dressing, hunkered down across the fire from her sister, and, in simple sentences, told her about the life she had lived. Married at seventeen to a farmer from the next town who gave her father an excellent bride price. How he had enough land that he could sell off much of his crop at the end of the harvest for good money. Money for servants, farm hands, fine clothes. Or so their father thought. He used that money to drink instead. How he raped her on their wedding night and how he did it over and over again throughout their life together. How her son had been born less than a year after their wedding. How her husband beat her when drunk and the miscarriages those beatings had caused. How she protected Hippolytus as much as she could. How he disappeared when taking a harvest to market four years before she died. She had no idea whether he lived or died. She didn't care. She had found a broken-down cart and fixed it so she could take her crops to sell at the market. She was surviving well enough.

She told of the raiders from a different city state (Athens she thought) that came to the village and her farm in the middle of the night. How three of these monsters raped her for hours, in front of her son, until she couldn't move, just moan. How they dragged them both to the woods and murdered Hippolytus before her eyes and then murdered her.

She told of her time by the Acheron with no obolus, and how, after a hundred years of waiting for mercy, she faded from there. Unburied, unloved.

She told of how she woke up here in the river and clawed and splashed her way out. And she told how she waited here by the shore for who knows what. Then, her fate changed, her sister Hippolyta showed up and she knew, just knew, that she was loved once again. She was so very thankful.

Hippolyta walked over to and held her sister close, crying. "I am so happy you are here Antiope,' she said.

^^^^^

They traveled the land together. They spoke of and convinced more cities and towns that peace was a good idea. Certainly more, but still very few. They both learned to hunt and cook. Antiope was so much better with the bow than Hippolyta, bringing down game most of the times she hunted, that she took on the responsibly of hunting for the two of them. They fed each other's spirits and became closer than they ever had been. It was odd for Antiope, at times, as their roles seemed to have been reversed. Antiope who had died when twenty-seven certainly looked older than her sister who had died at nineteen. But they knew the difference, they knew who was the eldest.

They cared for each other so much. They comforted and held each other as they cried. They laughed together, they sang together, they were proud of each other, they fought with each other, they eased each-others sexual tension and pleased each other when needed. Life was good, no, it was wonderful. 

They thanked the Goddesses, they thanked Ares, they sacrificed to all of them when and with what they could. But finally, they could do no more. They couldn't bring more cities together in peace. They sat by a fire one-night eating rabbit and stale bread and drinking sour wine and they wept. What could they do? Maybe more of them could make peace happen. Maybe more could change the world. They couldn't. They went to sleep that night sad and dejected and they dreamed. They dreamed of hundreds, no thousands of their ilk, convincing all cities, towns, and people to live in peace. They both dreamed the same dream. They both woke knowing they must go back to the Thermodon. And they did.

^^^^^

It took a week to return to that place by the river. When they did they saw thousands of their kind wandering the shores. All women who had suffered their deaths by man and had Ares and the Goddesses names on their lips as they died. They took charge and Hippolyta was named basileia with Antiope as her basilikos, her second. They sent the others out to all the cities and towns and they did it. All of them together brought peace to the world.

Years passed and peace stayed a while, then it was broken by greedy men who only wanted profit, and these women, these Amazons, these saviors, were made slaves. They worked for, they were humiliated by, they suffered from, they were raped by their captors. Some were loved and found families with their owners, but most were not. Many died. Antiope and Hippolyta were bought by the same man, a farmer. Hippolyta, after many years, devised a plan. They must revolt, they must escape, they must fight for their lives and for the lives of their sisters. Hippolyta's plan was about how they would do this.

The sisters, like most other Amazons, were beaten, raped, and humiliated by their new owners. However, Antiope knew livestock and she knew crops, from her time owning a farm, and, once her owners found out, was sent out to see and decide which of what stock and crops were to be bought and brought back to her master. For some reason, her owners trusted Antiope and she was out for months at a time. Antiope spread Hippolyta's ideas and plans. Sisters began to steal and hide weapons, and Antiope, after learning how to use them herself, showed her sisters how to use them. They grew strong, they learned crafts, and they learned trades but they also learned how to fight.

Years passed and most of the Amazons became extremely good at the art of war. There was a sister who was a Seer, one Menalippe, who spoke to the Gods for all of the others. She worked closely with Hippolyta and Antiope, as she lived nearby, to find the day, the moment when they should attack. Once that time was found, Antiope passed the word and, when the time came, the Amazons revolted and escaped. At least most of them did, many were never seen again.

There were different tribes of Amazons; women from different areas of the known world. The women in any particular tribe voted a basileia from their ranks. There was Penthesilea, from the steppes, who became a master with a lance and bow on horseback. There was Orana, from the east, who was an archer greater and better than any other. Phillipus, from the south, who became a master of shield and sword. And there was Artemis, who was strong, so very strong, from the west, who used her hands and a labrys, a two-headed axe, with extreme skill. And finally, Menalippe, the Seer from the North, who conversed with the Gods and became a master of the spear, shield, and phalanx. And over all of them, there was Hippolyta and Antiope. The first and second reborn. The Anassa and her Strategos.

They fought as sisters. They were hurt as sisters. They won as sisters. They died as sisters. They found love amongst their sisters. Like Antiope, who was pursued by and fell in love with Iole, a fine soldier from the steppes who could ride like the wind. When Iole was killed during the Battle of Athens, Antiope went temporally insane. She didn't come in from the field that day and it was Hippolyta who found her the next, kneeling and holding Iole in her arms, keening. She wouldn't let anyone help her prepare the body. She made sure Iole had a golden obolus. Iole would not wait by the Acheron until she slowly disappeared. She burnt Iole's body on the pyre she, herself, had built and sent her to the afterlife with great lamentations. Like Orana, who saw and pursued Alcippe from the North. She finally asked for and claimed her beloved at the feast after the battle of Athens. They were married the next day. They remained very happy until the day they both died. Like Penthesilea, whose heart fell to Achilles. He took her heart, tore it in half, and then stranded her and left. Never to see her again. She had lovers after, but never a love again. Atalanta, a champion wrestler, who won the heart of Meleager and was awarded the head, as trophy, from the Caledonian boar hunt. His family and friends revolted against this and he was killed. Hippolyta, who fought and fell to the wiles of Heracles. She gave up her golden girdle to free her, and the twelve Amazons with her, from his clutches. She also caught Zeus' attention. He took her and promised her a place to rest and escape from the world. She gave birth to His child, His daughter, whom Hippolyta named Diana. They all lived in his promised paradise but she was never truly happy until much later in her life. Many other pairings occurred. Many other pairings flourished. Many other pairings broke apart.

The Amazons moved to the north, west, and then south from the Thermodon attacking and destroying those cities where men had enslaved them. Troy, Athens, Corinth, Sparta and many other cities fell to them. They eventually came to the end of the Peloponnesian  
Peninsula and to the Great Sea and they were harassed and hunted. Hundreds were killed in skirmishes protecting each other. They knew they must find a way across the Sea or all would die. So, they stole ships from the port and sailed to the south and to the east. They finally found an island with a city on it. This city was deserted; no one was there. It was full of everything they could possibly need or want. They went ashore and claimed this city, this island, and named it Themyscira, the name of the town near where they were all reborn. The island itself was paradise and many wanted to name the city that but Themyscira still became its name by vote. There was abundant game, great forests, grasslands, mountains, flourishing farmlands, orchids of every fruit possible, stockyards, horses (so many horses), goats, cows, sheep, groves of exquisite olive trees, magnificent vineyards, cedars and oaks for building, and so much more. It was a paradise; it became home.

^^^^^

After a long and difficult pregnancy Hippolyta went into labor. Two days later Diana was born. She was now basileia to the Amazons. Antiope found love again. This time their union was fated and truly wonderful. She and Menalippe were married in late winter and had many years together. Hippolyta finally found true love. Phillipus, who had pined for Hippolyta for years, was finally noticed as wooing her and became the true love of her life. The other Amazons found peace and love also. And there were children, many children. Once a year, after the harvest was over, many Amazons sailed to another island. This is where they found the Gargarians, a tribe of men who desperately wanted and needed women to propagate. Many Amazons became pregnant during this time. The girls stayed with their mothers and were raised by the Amazons. The boys went with their fathers once weaned. Of course, no-one, not even the Amazons, knew who the fathers were as sexual activity on this island was very promiscuous. So, they were raised by all of the men. But the Gargarians became much more to the Amazons, they traded with the Amazons, continuously bringing new knowledge, writings, ideas, and history to Themyscira. And, in return, they were given children.

Life was very good. The Amazons prospered. The world of men forgot them and forgot how to find them. Zeus had actually kept His promise to Hippolyta and they were shielded from the world. Aging and time changed for them. Their lives extended. They had no idea how long they would live anymore. They knew it was, at the very least, three thousand years as most of them were that old. Many expected they were immortal.

Finally, however, the pain and suffering of man's world returned to Themyscira. Man invaded and killed many of their numbers. Antiope died saving Diana. Orana and Alcippe, her lover, were both killed within minutes of each other, as were many others. Diana left the island and went to man's world to help them overcome the pain, the fighting, the shame of their lives. The Amazons found themselves in the same position they had been in so many years before. They needed to create peace in all the world once again. It would not be easy. Many years would  
pass before even the oldest allies actually made peace. It was the beginning of a new cycle. It was time to start over once again.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my vision of the pre-canon.
> 
> Basileia --- lesser queen/king or lesser princess/prince  
> Basilicas --- brother/sister of king, brother/sister of commander  
> Labrys --- a two-headed battle axe  
> Anassa --- feminine form of Anax, king over other, lesser, kings  
> Strategos --- military general  
> Obolus --- a small coin (six obols make a drachma) used for funerary rites. An obolus was placed in the mouth of the deceased for passage across the Acheron River in Hades. If not paid the deceased was made to wait on the riverbank for 100 years, hoping someone would bury them with an obolus. After that, if not given proper rights, they just disappeared.


End file.
